Fun fact: Nhuri Bashir was the lead singer of a band while a student at Dalhousie University.

They called themselves The Chronicles and, while travelling to gigs across Canada, would listen to Joyful Rebellion, a popular hip-hop album by k-os.

On Saturday, Nhuri will showcase his latest works at The Loren in collaboration with Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

The title: Joyful Rebellion.

“It just felt right to me,” he said. “This right here, 20-something years later, kind of reignited that spirit of play and discovery.

“When I think of the terminology ‘joyful rebellion’, a lot of my artwork is very, very playful; it [ties into] pop art but there’s a hint of rebelling against a system that I find to be traditional and maybe a little bit outdated. And so you'll find that in each art piece there is that pop art but each piece has a message.”

The 20 works range from 4ft by 6ft to 2ft by 3ft and are a mix of silk-screens, acrylic paints and photography.

Money, culture and art are among the concepts he tackles in a way that is “always a little bit of fun and a little bit of tongue-in-cheek”.

The art is a passion that’s separate from his work with Burnt House Productions, the advertising agency he cofounded.

“It’s something that I love and so I make the time,” said Nhuri, whose last exhibit was in 2022. “With my team, I basically say, ‘For this week I’m going to be working purely on creating art.’ And everyone's understanding of that.”

Through his travels for work and for leisure he fell in love with the concept of hosting an exhibit in a non-traditional setting and decided to do the same.

“I think that art in a gallery is cool but if you can move the art outside of the gallery and create a kind of pop-up gallery that can be even cooler,” Nhuri said. “That was kind of the genesis of talking with The Loren, and seeing whether or not it was possible to do a 30-day pop-up in conjunction with myself and Masterworks at their hotel; so that we can give [audiences] a different experience than a traditional gallery experience.”

He felt that drinks and food could be made more “playful” at a hotel. The Loren presented the added benefit of a beautiful backdrop.

“My whole goal in life is to be able to improve the options for other artists.

“So I see this as a case study in doing something different and hopefully this becomes an avenue for artists to be able to do shows at other hotels. The goal is to push the borders of what we call a gallery opening.”

The Chronicles lasted for about five years and was nominated for an award by the East Coast Music Association.

“We won that battle of the bands at Dalhousie and because of that we were able to travel to [play at] a lot of frosh weeks across Canada. So we basically pulled up wheels and drove across the country performing at a bunch of different places.”

Although he enjoyed the experience, Nhuri knew it wasn’t a long-term pursuit.

“As a Bermudian you’re performing, you’re trying to make ends meet and then you decide that you want to marry the love of your life and you're like, well, I have to make a life for myself ….

“So really the end of my musical phase was when I decided to settle down and move back to Bermuda and start working.

“If I was making millions of dollars or even thousands of dollars I would have pursued it heavily but it was more for the experience. Not the money.”

The pieces in Joyful Rebellion were all created this year.

“You'll see a lot of repetition, which was a motif in my last show, and that kind of falls in line with the pop art theme,” Nhuri said. “And then you'll also see mixing between mediums – not just a pure photo or a pure silk-screen. Everything is mixed up.”

Nhuri will speak about his work and his inspiration when Joyful Rebellion opens on Saturday. His hope is that anyone who “likes art, likes artists or enjoys being around people who like art” comes along.

“In terms of offering something different, I think that every [artist] is different. It's whether or not people like the things that I do.” he said.

“I think it's going to be definitely different than any other gallery experience that's happened in Bermuda in my memory just by nature of it being at a different location with different atmosphere and drinks and all that kind of stuff, it's going to be an elevated and different experience.”

• Joyful Rebellion opens on Saturday with cocktails and canapés at The Loren from 6.30pm until 10pm. The exhibit will run in collaboration withMasterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, until March 24. A brunch celebrating the installation of a mosaic by US artist Tamara Gonzales takes place at The Loren on Sunday from 11am until 3pm with live music by Tino Martinez and DJ Chubb